Welcome to the Family
by AdventureAddict
Summary: Oneshot. You know, you can’t just adopt a little boy like you would a kitten. There will be a lot of responsibility involved. Do you really think you’re up to that?


Riza smiled as she watched the small dirty-blond haired boy totter across the floor of Roy's office. He flashed a toothy grin at her and then flopped backwards onto his butt in a sitting position. Alphonse walked over and handed the boy a thin picture book, which was immediately opened. He wasn't reading, but was obviously enjoying the colorful pictures.

"He's very cute, Alphonse," Riza said slowly, making Al smile slightly. "But I don't understand…" she continued, "Why come to me when I haven't seen you in years?"

"I needed help," Al muttered, now looking down at his shoes. "I couldn't tell Brother… Not yet… Please… would you help me?"

"You know I will," Riza assured him, gently placing a hand on his shoulder. "I was just wondering why you decided to ask me for help. What about that mechanic friend of yours back in your hometown?" Al seemed to consider it for a moment, but then shook his head.

"She wouldn't understand."

"All right," Riza sighed, but then suddenly realized that Al had silent tears streaming down his cheeks. She was surprised by this reaction, but then quickly pulled him into a hug.

"I don't know how to tell Brother," Al said softly, seeming to get at least a little comfort from Riza's hug. "I… I want to take care of him." Riza kept her hold on Al, but looked up at the younger boy. There was something familiar about him, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"Alphonse…" she said slowly. "You know, you can't just adopt a little boy like you would a kitten. There will be a lot of responsibility involved. Do you really think you're up to that?"

"Yes." Riza sighed again and let Al pull away from her.

"Is he an orphan?" she asked gently. Al shook his head and looked over at the small boy, who momentarily looked up from his picture book and grinned at Al.

"His mom died in an accident a few weeks ago," Al said slowly, "But his dad is still alive."

"Do you know who his dad is?" Riza asked, and Al just barely nodded. "Well, why don't you contact his father?" she asked, but Al stayed silent. Riza thought for a moment, and then suddenly had an idea.

"Did his father leave like your father did?" she asked. Al still kept silent, and Riza nearly cried out in frustration. She would have expected this sort of thing form Edward, but never his brother. "Alphonse, would you at least tell me who the father is?" she asked softly, bending down to look him in the eye. Al was quiet for so long that she nearly repeated the question, but then he finally said something.

"Me."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Riza asked gently. She didn't want to have yet another silence, but she was confused by his answer. 'Me?' What did he mean by that?

"I'm his father."

"You're his- his what?" Riza managed to choke out. That couldn't be possible. No way could sweet, innocent Alphonse Elric ever be a teenage father.

"He's my son," Al told her patiently, looking over at the small boy. Riza looked back over at the boy and suddenly realized why he had seemed slightly familiar earlier. His hair was almost the exact same shade as Al's own hair except that it was a bit lighter, his face had the same sort of shape, and that toothy grin was just a little too similar to Al's own smile.

"His mom never told me that she was-" Al started, but then choked on his words. "I never knew- I would have- I never thought as badly of dad as Brother did, but I never wanted my kids to grow up like that," he said slowly, more tears flowing down his cheeks with the words. "Now that I know, I've got to make it right."

"I know," Riza said gently. "What happened?"

"His mom wrote to me a few weeks ago, and said she was going to come visit me. I was a little surprised since she had just left without saying anything a few years ago, but I still said I'd meet her at the train station. She-" this was where Al broke down, but he just swiped at his tears with the heel of his hand and continued, "She stayed up the whole night writing a letter to me that explained everything. I don't know whether she was just going to give me the letter or if she just used it to sort out her thoughts, but either way she was really tired when she went to the train station early that morning. By the time the person in the ticket booth realized she had passed out onto the train tracks… it… it was too late."

"Al…" Riza said softly, putting her hand on his shoulder again. The little boy looked up worriedly from his picture book and then quickly tottered over to Al, tugging at his father's pants until Al finally reached down and picked him up.

"What's your name?" Riza asked with a slight smile. The boy looked up at Alphonse, who nodded.

"She's a friend," he told the boy, "It's okay."

"Jacob," he said softly, clutching at Al's shirt as he looked back over at Riza.

"Hi Jacob," Riza said kindly. "My name's Riza. Can you tell me how old you are?"

"Four," the boy told her, holding up four fingers to show her.

"Four!" Riza said excitedly. "Wow! You're a big boy!" Jacob grinned proudly, but Riza was busy thinking about how Elysia had only been three when Hughes had died. Now Al had a child just a little bit older, but instead of being thirty and married like Hughes, he was eighteen and single.

"What are you going to do?" she asked Al softly. He sighed and adjusted Jacob in his arms.

"I'm going to take care of him," he said determinedly. "If I don't, then his aunt will get him."

"What's so bad about that?" Riza asked. "She could be older and more experienced with-"

"She's a smoker and an alcoholic," Al interrupted. "But whenever people are sent over to check if her house is suitable for children, then she's _perfect_. I can't let her take Jacob away. What I really need to do is figure out a way to tell Brother."

"I think you should go see that teacher of yours," Riza said softly. "She knew you and Ed as children, I think she'd have a better idea than me of what to say to Ed."

"I can't go to Teacher!" Al protested quickly. "I can't let her know that I… I…"

"Were spontaneous and irresponsible for at least once in your life?" Riza suggested, making Al's face turn bright red almost instantly. "You said before that she eventually forgave you for doing human transmutation, I think she can forgive you for wanting to take care of your son."

"I guess I could talk to Teacher," Al said slowly. He shifted Jacob again, only now the boy had fallen asleep.

* * *

Al walked up slowly to the chair, his legs feeling like lumps of lead for the first time in four years. A small boy was curled up in the chair with a mop of dirty blond hair that Al realized made everything he had heard that day true.

"Hey," he said gently as he sat down in the chair next to the boy. He heard muffled sobs coming from the boy and felt a little sorry that he had come. What could he possibly say to comfort a boy who had just lost his mother? "What's wrong?"

"Mommy's not coming back, is she?" Jacob sniffled, rubbing his eyes as he looked up at Al.

"No," Al sighed. "Your mommy's not coming back." He paused as Jacob buried his head in his arms again. "But they said that they're going to try to get your daddy to come."

"Mommy never told me about Daddy," Jacob confessed to Al. "Do you know what he's like?"

"Well, he's… uh… tall…?" Al stuttered, "And he's got hair that looks just like yours… And… he… uh…"

"Is he nice?" Jacob interrupted.

"Well… uh… yeah, I've heard a lot of people say that about him," Al stammered, nervously scratching the back of his head. The two of them were silent for another moment until Al finally asked, "Have you ever heard about the Fullmetal Alchemist?"

"Yeah," Jacob sniffled. "Susie down the street said that her daddy said that he was the first one to do a human transmutation. And all the kids think he's really cool, and-" he paused for a moment, obviously, deep in thought. "WAIT!" he suddenly yelled, "ARE YOU SAYING THAT MY DADDY'S THE FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST?!?" he jumped up from his chair, his eyes glittering in pure excitement.

"Uh… no," Al admitted sheepishly, and Jacob sat back in his chair with a sigh. "But your daddy is the Fullmetal Alchemist's brother."

"He is?" Jacob looked up at Al with a huge grin on his face. "Does my Daddy's brother have any kids?" Al shook his head, and Jacob's grin got even wider. "Then that means that _I_ have the coolest daddy ever!" he said triumphantly.

"I guess so," Al smiled weakly. Jacob kept grinning and sat down again.

"How do you know so much about my daddy?" Jacob asked, his chin resting on the top of his knees.

"Well," Al said slowly, feeling his palms get sweaty. He knew the question would come eventually, but he hadn't been looking forward to answering it. "Because… because _I'm_ your daddy." He finally managed to stutter out. He knew that more questions from Jacob would follow, but it wasn't the type of question he had been expecting.

"Oh. …Did you love Mommy?" Al looked over at the small boy in surprise.

"Yes," he said softly. "I loved your mommy very much."

"Do you love me?"

"Yeah," Al looked over at the boy, who was swinging his legs back and forth. "I love you too." He grinned as he realized just how true it was. He had barely been with Jacob five minutes, but he knew that he loved the small boy. He couldn't explain it, but he knew.

"If you love me, and you love Mommy, then why did you leave?"

"I-" Al jumped at the question.

"_Mommy? Why did Daddy leave?" _

"_Because, Al, Daddy had lots of stuff he needed to do." _

"I didn't know where you and Mommy were," Al said softly. "I really wish I had known where you were. I would have come then."

"I'm sorry, Daddy," Jacob said quickly, standing up in his seat and reaching over to hug Al's arm. "I didn't mean to hide!"

"It's not your fault," Al told him quickly, reaching up and stroking Jacob's hair. "I want you to always remember that. I wasn't there because of me, not because of you, okay?" Jacob looked up at Al with wide eyes.

"Kay."

* * *

"Hello?!" Al called out as he walked into the familiar butcher shop. There was no one behind the counter, but Mason immediately came out of a back room at the sound of Al's voice.

"Hey, Al!" Mason called out cheerfully. "You want to see Izumi?" he asked, and Al nodded gratefully. Mason grinned and ducked back in the room. Jacob was starting to squirm in Al's arms after being on such a long train ride. He was glad that Ed had decided to stay in Resembool instead of traipsing around the country with him, but Al knew that he would have a lot of explaining to do once he got back.

"Al?" Izumi said curiously as she came out from the back room. "What's wr-" she stopped as soon as she saw the child in Al's arms. "Oh my-" she said faintly, recognizing the resemblance between Al and Jacob almost immediately, unlike Riza. "Your son?" Al nodded as she walked up to him. He had been scared of coming to see her, but now that he realized she wasn't mad, he was extremely grateful he had come.

"Jacob," Al said gently. "This is Grandma Curtis."

"Hi," Jacob said, holding up a hand in greeting. He had stopped squirming the moment Izumi had walked in the room. Al gently put him down, and Jacob almost instantly grabbed Al's pant leg.

"Does Ed know?" Izumi asked Al, who then looked down at his feet.

"That's why I came to see you," he said softly. "I don't know how to tell Brother." Izumi was thoughtful for a moment, but then seemed to come up with a plan.

"Mason!" she snapped, and the young man poked his head out from the back room again. "See if there are any suitable toys around here for our young guest." Mason nodded and disappeared again. "Now," she turned back to the two Elrics, and then crouched down in front of Jacob. "Do you like hot chocolate?"

"It's just warm chocolate milk," Al explained quickly when the boy looked up at him. Jacob quickly turned back to Izumi and nodded ecstatically.

"I would assume that you would also want some?" she asked Al as she pulled herself back into a standing position. Al nodded gratefully and Izumi walked out of the shop part of the building, into the house section, and then into the kitchen. Al carefully took Jacob's small hand in his and led him over to the living room. Mason came in while Izumi was heating the hot chocolate and handed Al a large stuffed bear and a battered xylophone.

"I'm afraid we don't have many toys," he told Al with an apologetic smile. "These were the best I could find for a tyke that's a bit younger than the last set of kids."

"Thank you," Al said gratefully just as Izumi came back with a steaming mug of hot chocolate, and a smaller, plastic cup for Jacob.

"Not the best for small fingers," she said as she handed the cup to Jacob. Al carefully put the bear and xylophone to the side so he could grab the mug she held out to him. "But it will have to do. Now, if you'll excuse me gentlemen, I have to make a phone call," she announced before walking out of the room. The living room was then silent except for the occasional slurp from Jacob.

"Jacob, drink it properly," Al sighed after a particularly long slurp.

"I am!" Jacob protested, and then took another long slurp.

"No, Jacob, we don't slurp," Al scolded gently. "It's not polite. Just drink it. See, like this," he said before taking a silent sip from his mug. Jacob sighed impatiently, but repeated the gesture. "Much better!" Al grinned at the young boy, who then grinned back at him.

"EDWARD ELRIC, YOU GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE RIGHT NOW BEFORE I MARCH OVER THERE AND KNOCK YOU CLEAR INTO NEXT WEEK!" Al paled and sank into his seat a little as he heard his teacher yell from the other room. "I DON'T CARE WHAT YOUR AUTOMAIL MECHANIC SAYS, I WILL HURT YOU A HUNDRED TIMES WORSE THAN SHE EVER COULD IF YOU DON'T CATCH THE NEXT TRAIN HERE IMMEDIATELY!" she paused for a moment, and then made Al flinch once she started again. "YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT SOMETHING'S WRONG, BUT YOU'RE NOT FINDING OUT WHAT UNTIL YOU GET OVER HERE! AND BELIEVE ME, IF YOU'RE NOT HERE BY TOMORROW, THEN THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY!" she finished her yelling by slamming the phone down loudly.

* * *

Ed sat silently in the Rockbell living room, reading a book as he let Winry check his arm without taking it off. He was normally too fidgety to let her check his arm that way, but he had noticed that he was getting better at that sort of thing. Normally he wouldn't be able to stay in a town for more than a week without throwing a fit, but now he had been in Resembool longer than _two_ weeks.

Al, on the other hand, seemed to be getting even more nervous. Ed felt his eyebrows crease as he started to worry about his little brother. Al had been constantly getting startled by phone calls, and had once nearly punched his brother in the gut when Ed had tapped him on the shoulder. He had a feeling that Al was hiding something from him; he just didn't know what it was. The whole thing made Ed a little nervous. He didn't like the thought of Al keeping secrets from him.

Just then the phone rang, startling Ed out of his thoughts. He shook his head with a sigh and turned back to his book as Winry got up from his automail to answer the phone. Whatever Al was hiding from him, he would find out sooner or later.

"Hello?" he heard Winry say from another room. "Hang on a sec. Ed, it's for you!" Ed closed his book with a sigh and went into the other room.

"Uh… nothing's going to fall out of this, right?" he asked Winry, motioning towards his open automail arm. Winry shook her head with a smile and held the phone out to him, mouthing the words, 'It's your teacher.'

"Hello?" he said nervously as he held the phone up to his ear. "Teacher?"

"Edward, I want you to pack up your things and get on the next train coming here," Izumi said coolly. "We need to talk."

"But," Ed paused and held the phone between his shoulder and ear so he could use his flesh hand to swat at Winry, who was fussing over his automail arm. "We're on the phone, can't we just talk now?" he asked.

"No," Izumi said simply. "It's too important. Come out here right away."

"Teacher, I don't understand…"

"You don't have to understand. Pack up your things and catch that train."

"I'm not a puppet," Ed replied, now starting to get irritated. "I do have a life and things _I_want to do with my spare time! There _are_ times when I can't just leave at a moment's notice!"

"EDWARD ELRIC, YOU GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE RIGHT NOW BEFORE I MARCH OVER THERE AND KNOCK YOU CLEAR INTO NEXT WEEK!" Ed winced slightly at Izumi's tone, but still held his ground.

"Winry's in the middle of fixing my automail!" he yelled back angrily. "I can't just _leave_!" he was too busy being angry at Izumi to notice Winry look up at him with a surprised – but happy – expression on her face. "Besides, she'll kill me if I just leave without even knowing _why_ I'm leaving!"

I DON'T CARE WHAT YOUR AUTOMAIL MECHANIC SAYS, I WILL HURT YOU A HUNDRED TIMES WORSE THAN SHE EVER COULD IF YOU DON'T CATCH THE NEXT TRAIN HERE IMMEDIATELY!" Ed grabbed the phone with his left hand quickly and held it away from his ear. Both he and Winry winced at the sound of Izumi's voice.

"It's okay, Ed," Winry said softly. "It sounds like she really needs you. I think you should go." Ed looked at her in surprise, then sighed and held the phone back to his ear.

"Is something wrong?" he asked softly, but then immediately held the phone away from his ear again.

"YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT SOMETHING'S WRONG, BUT YOU'RE NOT FINDING OUT WHAT UNTIL YOU GET OVER HERE! AND BELIEVE ME, IF YOU'RE NOT HERE BY TOMORROW, THEN THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY!"

Click.

Ed sighed and hung up the phone, and then held a hand to his forehead.

"I guess I'll have to leave soon," he said slowly. "I-" he stopped suddenly and looked over at Winry with a flash of inspiration "Winry, do you want to come with me?" Winry opened her mouth to protest, but Ed quickly added, "She's the one who wouldn't give me an extra day to let you finish my automail. You could fix it on the train, then I'll go see Teacher, and then maybe afterwards we'll go to Central, get Al and we could all go on a trip somewhere together!"

"I don't know Ed, I-"

"It'll be fun, Winry, I promise!"

"I-" Winry started, but then stopped when she saw Ed's hopeful expression. "I guess a few days off wouldn't hurt…" she said thoughtfully as a smile slowly stretched across her face.

* * *

"Al, stop pacing, you'll wear a hole in the floor!" Izumi sighed exasperatedly. Al immediately stopped and held his hands together tightly.

"Sorry, Teacher."

"Your brother will be here soon enough," Izumi said with a slight roll to her eyes. "If you keep pacing, you'll wake up Jacob, and it took forever for him to settle down for his nap, remember?"

"Sorry, Teacher."

"And would you stop apologizing already?!"

"Umm… Sorry, Teacher?" Al tried with a nervous smile. Izumi sighed and went to turn back to her book just as a familiar voice called out form the butcher shop below.

"Okay, I'm here!" Ed called out, "Now tell me what's the matter!" Al hurried down to the shop, but then stopped immediately when he saw who had come along with Ed.

"Oh, hey Al," Ed said casually. "Teacher dragged you over here too, huh? So what's the big deal, anyway?"

"You brought Winry?!" Al squeaked, looking over at the girl with huge eyes. Sure, he liked Winry and all, and they had been friends ever since they were little, but he wasn't ready to tell her about Jacob yet. He barely even felt ready to tell his own brother.

"Yeah," Ed shrugged. "She needed to fix my automail, so- What's wrong, Al?" Al could feel himself sweating and maybe even shaking a little, but no matter what he did, he couldn't stop himself.

"Um… Could I talk to you, Brother?" he said hesitantly. "Alone?"

"Oh, come on Al," Winry laughed, "What can you tell Ed that you can't tell me?" she stopped as Al looked over at her with huge eyes, silently mouthing the words, 'Please, Winry, please.'

"You know, Ed, I think I left a wrench at the train station!" Winry said quickly. "I'm going to go see if it's still there!"

And with that, she was gone. Ed practically did a double take, but then turned and looked over at Al, who was shaking slightly and looking at the floor.

"Look, Brother, there's been something I've been hiding from you," Al started nervously as he scratched the back of his head.

"I know," Ed said quickly, making Al look up at him in surprise. "These past few weeks you've been more jumpy than Riza in a skirt," he said, making Al smile slightly. "So do I finally get to find out what it was you were hiding from me?"

"Well…" Al stammered, "I… um… I don't really know what to say… You see, Brother, I…" he stopped as a light shade of pink colored his cheeks. "I really didn't mean to… It was an accident, and… I don't know how to explain it…"

"I can't sleep." Al stopped trying to explain to Ed and looked up to see Jacob standing in the doorway, sleepily rubbing one of his eyes. "I had a bad dream." Al smiled at the small boy and picked him up.

"Would you feel better if you told me about it?" Al asked him gently. Jacob quickly shook his head with a shudder and grabbed a chunk of Al's shirt. Meanwhile, Ed was looking at the two with an amused smile on his face.

"That's funny, Al," he said with a slight chuckle. Al froze and looked up at his brother with wide eyes. "He looks just like-" Ed stopped and looked between the two again, his face suddenly very pale. "-you…" he finished faintly.

"I didn't mean to," Al said faintly, his voice trembling a little.

"You're not even married!" Ed hissed. How could Al let something like this happen? Al was supposed to be the _responsible_ one!

"You think I don't know that?!" Al snapped back, making Ed stop immediately. He barely ever heard Al use the my-brother-is-such-an-idiot tone, and every time it managed to stun him, at least momentarily.

"I'm going to take care of him," Al said stubbornly as he held Jacob protectively against his chest. "I don't care what you think! And if we have to, we'll- we'll-" Al stopped and looked down at Jacob. Then back up at Ed. "We'll find somewhere else to live if no one will help us!"

"Don't be stupid, Al!" Ed snapped, and Al's eyes widened in surprise. "Of course people will help you! Besides, you stuck with me the whole time you were in that armor, do you really think I'd leave you when _you_ need someone to stick by you?"

"I- I-" Al faltered and then smiled at Ed. "No. Thanks, Brother."

"I guess you're going to need a house," Ed said slowly as he started rubbing the back of his head. "To bad we burned down ours." He paused, and then slowly added, "Look, Al, I saved up a bit of money a while back. I think you should have it."

"No, Brother, I can't-"

"Hey, I was figuring it would be a wedding present someday, so don't give me that," Ed said quickly, cutting Al off.

"So you're really going to help me then?" Al said, his eyes wide and hopeful.

"Of course I'm going to help you," Ed sighed. "I said I would, and I'm going to stick to that. What makes you think I wouldn't?"

"I…" Al started slowly. "I was just worried about you would think."

"Al," Ed grinned. "I'm your brother. I'll always be there for you, okay?" Al nodded with a smile, and then Ed noticed for the first time that the little boy in Al's arms was staring at him.

"Hi," he said, crouching down so that his face was level with the boy's. Jacob's eyes widened and he looked up at his father.

"It's okay," Al said gently. "He's is the Uncle Edward I was telling you about." Jacob quickly turned back to look at Ed with excited eyes.

"Are you really the Fullmetal Alchemist?" Jacob asked excitedly.

"I was," Edward grinned. "But that was a long time ago. What's your name?"

"Jacob."

"Jacob Elric, you couldn't have picked a better family to belong to," Ed said, playfully rubbing Jacob's dirty-blond hair. Al and Jacob both smiled the same toothy grin in response.


End file.
